Kodak losses continue to mount in latest monthly report

Kodak's US operations made a net loss of $78.7m (49.7m) on revenues of $162.5m in July taking its combined losses since the start of the year to $745m on sales of $1.1bn.

According to the troubled Rochester, NY based manufacturer's latest monthly operating report, which does not include the company’s international businesses that were not part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, such as the UK, it made an operating loss of $52.3m and a pre-tax loss of $78.5m for the month of July.

It's gross result - a $3.2m loss - was a reversal on the previous month's $19.2m gross profit, the first Kodak had recorded since entering Chapter 11 at the start of the year.

Excluding March and June, when the net result was skewed by exceptionally high restructuring and reorganization costs respectively, Kodak's monthly net loss has been on an improving trend, going from a $100m loss in January, to a $97m loss in February, a $91m loss in April, an $88m loss in May and a $78m loss in July.

Research and development (R&D) spend has declined 22% in that time, from the highs of $18m in January and March to $14m in each of the last three months. Selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) had fallen from $41m in January to $34m in April.

Kodak then recorded a spike in SG&A in the Drupa month of May, back up to $40m, although this dropped back to $30m in June before rising again last month to $39m.

Revenues fluctuated throughout the first half of the year, with the best three months trading falling in February ($168m), May ($173m) and June ($180m) and the worst in January ($143m), March ($108m) and April ($156m).

Despite the improvements in Kodak's net result since the start of the year, the company remains a long way off profitability and is burning through cash at an increasing rate - the group's US operations finished July with $438m cash in hand, down $72m on June's $510m.

This continued a trend, with Kodak burning through $22m in March, $43m in both April and May, and $64m in June. In that time, cash reserves have fallen from $682m on 29 February to $438m on 31 July.